Freddy's Story, A Reservoir Dogs fanfic
by Mokibobolink
Summary: A novelization of Reservoir Dogs told from Mr. Orange's point of view. While starting with scenes found in the movie, this story also contains scenes not found in the film and continues after the credits originally rolled.
1. Freddy awakes

The screaming kept getting louder and the voice more panicked with each word. Freddy knew that someone needed help but he couldn't even lift his own head off the hard floor, how could he help them?

"Please!!" the voice pleaded "Please don't burn me, man. Please, I got a kid at home now" the voice was more urgent now, desperate.

"Are you done?" a cold voice responded in the darkness that filled Freddy's world. It seemed he couldn't remember a world that wasn't dark or filled with screaming and pain. Freddy tried not to think of that though, the pain that was literally tearing him in two.

Freddy suddenly smelled gasoline and knew that the man doing the pleading was going to be hurt and hurt bad. For some reason he felt like he had a duty to save this man, but why? Freddy himself was dead. He was sure he was dead. There was too much blood now for him not to be dead. How could a dead man have a duty towards another man who was about to join him in the darkness and the pain?

The screaming became louder still and somehow it helped to clear his fogged head. Suddenly everything came back to him and Freddy knew what he had to do. The gun. Where was his gun? In his hand, that's where Larry had put it. Good Larry, smart Larry, he thought to himself.

He opened his eyes to a sickening sight. The screaming man was tied to a chair, his face cut. To Freddy's horror he noticed the man was missing his right ear. He was drenched in gasoline and urgently pleading for his life. The other man, a big man, was standing in front of the poor guy with a match, enjoying the spectacle.

"Are you done? Are you finished?" The cruel man asked again with a slight smile. Then he lifted a lighter and started to flick it.

Suddenly the air erupted with bullets and the big man's chest exploded with holes. It took everything Freddy had in him to keep the gun trained on the man as he staggered back with each successive bullet. Finally Freddy's gun was empty and the man was sitting on the floor, dumbfounded. Freddy had emptied the clip but he kept his aim on the big man until finally he fell dead. Freddy felt the strain from the effort and his gun shook a little as he finally lowered it back to his side.

Then he looked back at the man in the chair, a uniformed cop. The cop was staring at him in shock and obvious surprise. Probably wondering how on earth he'd been saved by a corpse, Freddy thought to himself. He looked down at the mess that was his body and couldn't blame the poor guy. Weak and dizzy now from the effort of taking out Mr. Blonde, Freddy turned over and made a half-hearted attempt to push himself off the wooden ramp where Larry had left him. But it was no use. He tried using his gun to help push himself up but fell onto his side again. He had no choice now but to tell the cop the truth for he was going to need the guy's help to back up his story. The others wouldn't be happy when they found Mr. Blonde lying dead across the doorway. He had hoped to let the cop loose and somehow pin the murder on him once the guy was safely away. Freddy knew he had to wait for Joe before he could hope to get himself the medical attention he so desperately needed but he had wanted to let the cop go. It would have been easier to explain that way.

The cop was still staring at him wide-eyed and panting with adrenaline. Blood was dripping from the cuts on his face and he kept spitting more out of his mouth periodically.

"Shit" The cop said, softly.

"Hey you" Freddy said quietly, barely able to get that much out. He cleared his parched throat, swallowed and started again. "Hey you, what's your name?" he asked.

"Marvin" the cop replied, still staring at the talking corpse laying in a pool of blood.

"Marvin what?" Freddy queried

"Marvin Nash" the cop replied, growing quiet and looking away.

"Listen to me Marv…" again Freddy's voice betrayed him. Was this a symptom of bleeding to death, he wondered? He swallowed hard and tried to clear his throat again. "Listen to me Marvin Nash, I'm a cop" he said and waited for the expected surprised response. Instead he got a quiet nod in return.

"I know" the cop said, meeting Freddy's gaze again. It was Freddy who found himself surprised instead.

"You knew?" He asked hoarsely. This thought had never occurred to him. Freddy had been going in and out of consciousness for a while but had been aware when the cop had been brought in. In a brief moment of clarity he had heard them beat the guy while asking him who the "rat" was. The guy had maintained throughout the beatings that he'd only been on the force a few months and that he knew nothing. Freddy had completely and utterly believed him but hadn't been able to rouse himself to help his plight.

"Yeah. Your name's Freddy something" The cop replied, twisting a little in his binds to ease apparently aching shoulders. The guys had tied him to the chair using duct tape from Mr. Blonde's trunk.

"Newendyke. Freddy Newendyke" Freddy replied thoughtfully, still puzzled that this guy knew who he was.

"Frankie Freschetti, he introduced us abut five months ago" Marvin said.

"Shit, I don't remember that at all" Freddy said wonderingly. He looked down at himself again, noticing now just how much blood was surrounding him. His hands were covered in it, his entire shirt was red with it and there was a puddle gathered around his feet at the bottom of the ramp. The hole in his stomach was ugly and black from the burn the bullet made upon entry. He'd never seen someone shot before and it was almost interesting to notice what happened to a body when a bullet hit it. If not for the still unbelievable pain he could almost have detached himself from the wound and not thought of it as his own at all.

"Freddy?" Marvin's voice queried out of nowhere.

Freddy looked up from his private musings and met Marvin's gaze.

"How do I look?" Marvin asked with little hope in his eyes. He felt he knew the answer he was going to get and he also knew that he probably wasn't going to like it.

The question took Freddy completely off guard and to his utter surprise he laughed. The laughter hurt like a son of a bitch but he just couldn't help himself. Rolling over in a mixture of pain and mirth he looked back over his shoulder at Marvin, who was watching him anxiously. He studied the guy's face and the bloody stump that was once his ear, and smiled.

"I don't know what to tell ya, Marvin" Freddy gasped with a final chuckle and raised his arms in an eloquent shrug.

Marvin looked back at the bloody body of Mr. Blonde lying in the doorway and started weeping softly.

"That crazy motherfucker" he spat. "That son of a bitch!"

Freddy knew that he had to keep this guy together or they could both be in real trouble. He put on the best calming voice he could muster and tried to talk Marvin down.

"I need you to hang on Marvin" he said. "There're cops waiting a block away to move"

"What the fuck are they waiting for!" Marvin screamed, spitting more blood. "This son of a bitch cuts up my face. Then he cuts off my fucking ear and now I'm deformed!"

Freddy listened to this tirade quietly until Marvin mentioned being deformed. Deformed? He saves this guy from a horrible death while he himself was lying in a pool of his own blood and this asshole has the gall to worry about being deformed? Suddenly Freddy felt anger like he'd never felt before.

"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! I'm fuckin' dying here! I'm fuckin' dying!! He screamed.

Marvin looked properly contrite and quieted down immediately. Apparently realizing that maybe his own situation wasn't as awful as he'd originally thought. He looked at Freddy and almost seemed ready to apologize. Freddy wasn't really interested in hearing any apologies but he was satisfied with the look on Marvin's face.

"They aren't supposed to make a move until Joe Cabot shows up. I was sent in to get him" Freddy continued, quietly and a little hoarse now from his outburst. "Now you heard them, they say he's on his way. Don't pussy out on me now, Marvin"

Marvin just looked at him. He seemed resigned to his fate so Freddy continued in a slightly kinder tone.

"We're just going to sit here and bleed until Joe Cabot sticks his fucking head through that door" Freddy indicated the door with his gun and Marvin nodded

While they waited Freddy started to think about how he'd found himself in this situation. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen, not at all.


	2. Chapter 2 Holdoway

Freddy was walking to the coffee shop where he knew Holdaway would be waiting for him. He was absolutely strutting with his news and couldn't wait to see the look on his boss' face when he told him the latest.

Freddy walked into the diner and immediately spotted Holdaway sitting at a window booth, scarfing down a huge burger and fries.

"Say hello to a motherfucker who's inside. Cabot's doing a job and take a big fat guess who he wants on the team?" He said without preamble and was rewarded with a muffled choke as the guy nearly snorted up a mouthful of his dinner.

"This better not be some sort of Freddy joke" Holdaway said immediately.

"It's no joke man, I'm in there. I'm up his ass" Freddy said, holding out his hand. Holdaway smiled, shook his hand then grabbed him in a huge bear-hug. Freddy sat down in the booth and got ready to tell his story.

"So, how did it happen?" Holdaway asked.

"Nice Guy Eddie tells me Joe wants to meet me. He says I should just hang at my apartment and wait for a phone call" Freddy was enjoying his story now, he was getting a kick out of the triumph that came from literally months of hard work. "Well, after waiting three goddamn days by the fucking phone he finally calls me and says Joe's ready and he'll pick me up in fifteen minutes"

"Who all picked you up?" Holdaway asked, picking up a few more fries.

"Nice Guy" Freddy replied. "We get to a bar…."

"What bar?" Holdoway interrupted.

"Smokey Pete's in Gardena" Freddy replied and Holdoway nodded.

"We get there and I meet Joe and a guy named Mr. White. It's a phony name, my name's Mr. Orange" Freddy continued.

"Mr. Orange?" Holdoway asked with a smirk.

"Mr. Orange" Freddy replied with a smile.

"Okay _Mr. Orange_" Holdoway said with a chuckle, grabbing more fries. "You ever see this motherfucker before?"

"Who? Mr. White?" Freddy asked.

"Yes _Mr. Orange_, Mr. White" Holdoway replied.

"No he ain't familiar. He ain't one of Cabot's soldiers either, he's gotta be from out of town" Freddy said, trying to remember all of the details of the previous night. He'd been trained to try and memorize every detail of an encounter with these kinds of guys. Anything that was said by them could be info they'd need to take this guy Joe down. He was finding it a challenge to remember every single detail now and knew that Holdoway was testing him in a way. Freddy was his pupil and he obviously wanted to make sure he'd done the job right.

"Joe knows him real good" Freddy continued, describing Mr. White.

"How can you tell?" Holdoway asked.

"The way they talk to each other. You can tell they were buddies" Freddy said.

"Two of you talk?" Holdoway asked

"Who?" Freddy replied. "Me and Joe?"

"_Mr. White_" Holdoway said, a little frustrated.

"A little" Freddy said.

"About what?" Holdoway asked.

"Brewers" Freddy said with a smile. He knew what was coming next.

"Milwaukee Brewers?" Holdoway asked with genuine interest now. This was getting somewhere.

"Yeah, apparently they won the night before, he made a killing off of them" Freddy replied.

"This is sweet, man. Cuz if this crook is a Brewer's fan then his ass has got to be from Wisonsin" Holdoway said excitedly.

Freddy had been waiting for Holdoway to ask the right questions and come to the same conclusion that he himself had already. Seeing his friend catch on he put his finger in the air with a "bing!" and Holdoway continued.

"And I'll bet you anything from a "little eye Joe" to a "damned if I know" that in Milwaukee they got a sheet on this Mr. White motherfucker's ass." Freddy was nodding now, glad to see Holdoway had caught on so quickly. " So what I want you to do is to go through the mugs of all the guys from "Old Milwaukee" with a history of armed robbery and put a name to the face" Holdoway said to his protégé and Freddy grinned in agreement.

"Nice work Freddy" Holdoway said, holding out his hand.

"Thank you, my man" Freddy said, shaking it in return.

"How was Long Beach Mike's referral?" Holdoway asked curiously.

"Perfecto" Freddy replied. "He's backing me up a long fuckin' way. I told them it was Long Beach Mike I did the poker game with" Freddy said, referring to a made up heist of a poker game they'd invented. "When Nice Guy called him to check it out he said I was a-ok. He said I was a good thief, I didn't rattle, and I was ready to make a move" Freddy continued. "So do right by him, he's a good guy. I wouldn't be inside if it weren't for him" Freddy said earnestly.

"No, no, no, no" Holdoway said seriously "Long Beach Mike is not your fucking amigo, man. Long Beach Mike is a fucking scum-bag. He's selling _out_ his amigos, that's what kind of "nice guy" he fucking is, alright? I'll take care of his fucking ass alright? But you get that low-life scum-bag outta mind and you take care of business, alright?" Holdoway said harshly.

Freddy thought that Holdoway was really overreacting. What did he think that he and Long Beach Mike were lovers or something? Jeez, he'd just asked Jim to be fair to him because he'd been so helpful with Joe. To placate his buddy, Freddy made a big show of sliding a hand in front of his face to mean that he was erasing Long Beach Mike from mind.

"Gone" he said reassuringly.

Holdoway looked relieved that he'd gotten through to his pupil. He'd really been worried for a minute that the kid was going to forget what all this hard work was about. He didn't need a guy inside who was going to start making friends with the crooks or worse yet, feel sorry for them. Freddy's comment had surprised him but it looked like he'd overreacted to it a bit. Holdoway had trained Freddy himself and he knew that he was a fair guy. But he also felt confident that he could get the job done. At the very least he knew the kid had cajones. Big ones too, since he wanted to do undercover work. Satisfied that his point had been well taken, Holdoway asked something he'd wondered ever since Freddy had come strutting through the door.

"Did you use the "Commode Story?" he asked with a sly smile.


	3. The Commode Story

Freddy was standing in the hot sun on the roof above the station. Holdoway had told him he'd be up soon after he filed some reports so Freddy was just biding his time, having a cigarette and enjoying the view. It was still early July and the LA weather hadn't gotten too hot yet, and for that, he was grateful. In another month the roof would turn unbearable and he fervently hoped that Holdoway would consider his training complete enough to go out on a job well before then. The guy kept insisting that they go over stuff in private and the roof provided the perfect place for it. Freddy was puzzled when Holdoway kept insisting they work without any of the other guys around. What harm could they do? They were cops after all. But Jim had explained that privacy was necessary not only for Freddy's safety but the safety of the other guys as well. He'd insisted that if the other guys overheard he and Freddy working on their cover stories then they could potentially be in danger. What if they were caught on the scene by one of the crooks and forced to tell a story about a rat? Freddy thought Holdoway was being a bit ridiculous. What was this, an old movie? Who the hell kidnaps cops these days and forces them to talk? But Freddy humored Holdoway and after a few initial arguments, he now came meekly to the roof when summoned and didn't argue.

Finally Holdoway came out of the rooftop door and Freddy quickly put out his cigarette, eager to get started. Holdoway had some papers which he handed to Freddy without a word. Freddy looked at them and saw what appeared to be a story of some sort.

"What is this?" he asked, puzzled.

"It's a scene man, memorize it" Holdoway replied.

"A what?" What the hell did Holdoway have up his sleeve this time? Freddy wondered.

"Look man, an undercover cop has to Marlon Brando. To do this job you got to be a great actor. You got to be naturalistic. You got to be naturalistic as hell. Cuz if you ain't a great actor you're a bad actor, and bad acting is bullshit in this job" Holdaway explained.

Freddy knew all this already, of course he had to be a great actor to do undercover work. Who the hell didn't know that?

"But what is _this_" Freddy asked again, pointing to the sheaf of papers in his hand.

"It's an amusing anecdote about a drug deal" Holdaway replied.

"What?" Freddy asked, still puzzled.

"Something funny that happened to you while you were doing a fucking job, man" Holdoway was getting a little pissed now at the obvious obtuseness of his pupil.

Actually Freddy had understood what an anecdote was but he was sure he was definitely not going to like what he thought might be coming next.

"I gotta memorize all this shit?" he asked, in shock. Memorizing crap was not one of Freddy's strong points. "There's over four fucking pages of this shit here" he continued in protest.

"Look man" Jim interrupted Freddy's bitching "Just think about it like it's a joke, alright? You memorize what's important and the rest you make your own, alright? You can tell a joke, can't ya?" Holdoway asked with a little grin.

"Nope" Freddy replied truthfully.

Actually Holdoway knew Freddy couldn't tell a joke if his life depended on it. Every time he would try he'd end up screwing it up somehow. He'd forget the punch-line, tell it out of order or sometimes even give the punch-line first. He was awful at it and everyone knew it. But one thing Holdoway knew the kid could do was lie through his teeth. For even though he was known for not being able to tell a joke, he was equally known for being able to pull one off. Some of the best pranks and April Fools Day jokes known around the precinct were legends due to Freddy. Just last year Freddy had managed to get one of the clerks to type up a report for him about one Mr. Michael Moose (aka "Mickey the Moose" in the report). The girl typed the whole thing up referring to "Mickey the Moose's" various crimes, all invented in Freddy's outrageous imagination. The poor girl had gotten through describing "The Moose's" raid on a cheese factory back in '87 before it finally dawned on her that she'd been had, but good. Jim had laughed along with the rest when the truth had finally come out. It had been at that moment that he'd thought Freddy might finally be ready for the undercover work he'd been asking for since practically the moment he'd joined the force. Holdoway had watched in awe that day as Freddy had stood by the clerk's desk and gave her the descriptions of what was ostensibly a giant moose and never once flinched or even came close to a giggle. He was good.

So even though Freddy couldn't actually tell even the simplest "knock-knock" joke without blowing it sky high, he still was responsible for many "Freddy jokes" around the precinct. In fact anytime something really ridiculous and unbelievable happened, many would speculate that another "Freddy joke" had transpired yet again. Sometimes Freddy admitted to them and sometimes he didn't. Thus no one ever really knew how many were his doing. That was part of the legend of a "Freddy joke". You never knew for sure if he did it or not.

Knowing all this, Holdoway continued to coach Freddy.

"Just pretend your Don Rickles or some-fucking-body and tell a joke, alright?" Holdoway said and Freddy looked at him with a grin.

"Now the things you gotta remember are the details, cuz it's the details that sell your story" Holdoway continued, getting down to business. "Now this particular story takes place in a men's room so you gotta know all the details about the men's room. You gotta know if they got paper towels or a blower to dry your hands, if the stalls ain't got not doors or not, man" he explained.

Jim was now walking around the roof, pantomiming various parts of his story. He was really getting into it and Freddy was fascinated by his enthusiasm.

"You gotta know if they got liquid soap or that pink granulated powdered shit they used to use when you were in high school, remember?" Holdoway continued.

Freddy did remember. That stuff sucked.

"You gotta know if they got hot water or not. If it stinks. If some nasty low-life scum-ridden motherfucker sprayed diarrhea all over one of the bowls" Holdoway said, pointing to an imaginary john. Freddy thought _that _comment was a bit unnecessary but he kept his mouth shut. "You gotta know _every _detailthere is to know about this commode" he continued.

"Now what you gotta do is take all them details and make them your own" Jim said, finishing his one-act play and walking back to where Freddy was leaning against the wall of the roof. "While you're doing that, you gotta remember that this story is about you and how _you _perceived the events that went down" he said.

"The only way to do that, my brother" he said, plucking the rolled-up pages from Freddy's hands. "Is to keep saying it and saying it and saying it" he finished, unfolding the pages and handing them back to Freddy again.

Freddy took them reluctantly but with more interest this time. He wasn't looking forward to memorizing all of this but he was beginning to find the challenge intriguing.

The next day Freddy started reading the story and attempting to memorize it. At first he sat at his dining table and read the story out loud over and over again. After awhile he grew bored of this so began walking around his apartment with the papers in his hand, continuing to read it out loud.

A day later Freddy was in his living room, walking back and forth in front of his second-story window.

"This was during the Los Angeles marijuana drought of '86. I still had a connection, which was insane 'cause you couldn't get weed any-fucking-where then" he was saying to no one, pacing his living room with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"Anyway, I had a connection with this hippie chick up in Santa Cruz and all my friends knew it" Freddy continued, putting down the paper to see if he could still remember the next bit.

"They'd give me a call and say "Hey Freddy"…………..errrrrrrr!' Freddy corrected himself automatically. No names dumbass, he reminded himself as he continued.

"Hey _Dude_" he continued. "You getting' some? Could you get some for me too?' Like, they knew I still smoked, so they'd ask me to buy some for them when I was buyin' for me. But it got to be………." Damn, how did that part go again? Freddy consulted the papers on the dining table to remind himself of the next part, then continued his pacing.

"It got to be that every time I bought some weed, I was buying for four or five different fucking people. So finally I said 'Fuck this shit'. I'm making this bitch rich. She didn't have to do jack shit" Still pacing his living room Freddy picked up his baseball bat from the corner and began swinging it as he walked. He liked keeping his hands busy as he went on with the story "She didn't even have to _meet _these people, I'm doing all the work……."

After a couple days of practicing on his own Freddy thought he'd gotten pretty damn good at the story. Jim called on the third night and asked how it was going. When Freddy said he thought he had it down pretty well, Holdoway asked to see him do it. So they met the next afternoon at an abandoned factory a couple blocks from Freddy's apartment. The place was covered in elaborate graffiti and there was trash everywhere but at least it was quiet. Also it had an old loading dock which served as a make-shift "stage" for Freddy's "play". Holdaway took a seat on an old bucket and Freddy started the story. With days of practice Freddy had it down and was really getting into it, using elaborate gestures and changing his voice to match his "characters".

"…..but then that got to be a pain in the ass. People calling me on the phone all the fucking time. I couldn't even rent a fucking tape without six fucking phone calls. 'Hey, when's the next time you're getting' some?" Freddy said in a perfect "stoner" voice that made Holdoway smile.

"Motherfucker! I'm trying to watch The Lost Boys! When I get some I'll let you know" Freddy said and Holdoway chuckled. That bit wasn't in the pages and he just happened to know that The Lost Boys was one of Freddy's favorite flicks. He was happy to see that the kid had added something of his own.

"Then these rinky-dink pot-heads come by……they're my friends and everything, but still. I got all my shit laid out in sixty dollar bags" Freddy said, indicating imaginary rows of pot. "They don't want sixty dollars worth. They want ten dollars worth and breaking it up is a major fucking pain in the ass. I mean I don't even know what ten dollar's worth looks like" Freddy said in feigned exasperation.

Finally Freddy got so good with the story that when he found himself in front of Eddie, Joe and this Mr. White character, he was at ease. The story flowed from him easily and he actually got a kick out of telling it. It was almost as if this had really happened to him and he liked watching the guy's reaction to it.

Standing in front of the guys sitting at a bar table, music blaring behind him, Freddy was really getting into it.

"Now this was a very weird situation, 'cause I don't know if you remember back in '86 there was a major fucking drought. Nobody had anything. People were livin' on resin and smoking' the wood in their pipes for months" He said, pacing in front of them like some sort of a stage performer. The guys were enjoying the hell out of the story and he continued.

"This bitch had a bunch and she's beggin' ME to sell it. So I told her I wasn't gonna be Joe The Pot Man anymore. But I would take a little and sell it to my close, close, close friends. She agreed to that and said we'd keep the same arrangement as before. Ten percent and free pot for me as long as I helped her out that weekend. She had a brick of weed she was sellin' and she didn't want to the buy alone. Her brother usually goes with her but he's in county unexpectedly." Freddy said and suddenly Mr. White interrupted.

"What for?" Mr. White asked. Freddy was prepared with all kinds of explanations and without missing a beat said "Traffic tickets gone to warrant. They stopped him for something, found the warrants on 'im, took 'im to jail" and White nodded, smiling at the guy's obvious bad luck.

"Anyway" Freddy continued. "She doesn't want to walk around all alone with all that weed. Well I don't wanna do this, I gotta very BAD feeling about this. But she keeps askin' me, keeps askin' me, keeps askin' me, and finally I say okay cuz I'm tired of hearing it" Freddy said, rolling his eyes in mock frustration. The guys ate it up.

"Well, we're picking the guy up at the train station.." This time it was Eddie who interrupted.

"You're picking the guy up at the train station and you got the weed on you?" he asked, surprised. Freddy was ready for this one too and continued effortlessly.

"Yeah, the guy needed it right away, don't ask me why. So we get to the train station and we're waiting for the guy. Now I'm carrying the weed around in one of those carry on bags" Freddy said, acting like one was hanging from his shoulder "and I gotta take a piss. So I tell the connection I'll be right back, I'm going to the little boy's room"

And as Freddy told his story for the umpteenth time something new started to happen. He now started to picture exactly what was happening in his head. He actually saw himself walking into a ratty old men's room in a train station and pushing the door open.

"So I walk into the men's room and guess who's standing there?" he asked. The guy's shrugged.

"Four Los Angeles County Sheriff's and one German Shepherd" he replied with a smile.

"They were waiting for you?" Eddie asked, surprised.

"No man, they were just a bunch of cops hangin' out in a men's room, talking. But when I walked through the door they all stopped what they were talking about and looked at me" Freddy replied.

In Freddy's mind he could see the Sheriff's all standing there, staring at him with suspicion. Actually all of them were guys he worked with but in his little fable they were strangers. Even the dog was familiar, it was one he'd had as a kid named Reb.

"That's hard, man. That's a fucking hard situation" White was saying, laughing.

"The German Shepherd starts barking" Freddy continued "He's barking at me, I mean it's obvious he's barking at ME" Freddy said, pointing to himself.

In Freddy's head the dog was doing exactly that and the Freddy in his head was standing there, frozen. Staring back at the dog and the sheriffs, wide eyed.

"Every nerve ending, all of my senses, the blood in my veins, everything I had was screaming 'Take off, man, just take off, get the fuck outta there!'" Freddy was saying to the guys but in his head he was still in that smelly old bathroom, staring down the dog and the sheriffs.

"Panic hits me like a bucket of water. First there's the shock of it – BAM, right in the face! Then I'm standing there drenched in panic. And all those sheriff's are lookin' at me and they know, man. They can smell it. As sure as that fucking dog can, they can smell it on me" he said

In his head he was still frozen as a statue, in fear. Finally one of the sheriff's yelled at the dog "Shut up!" and continues telling a story to his pals.

Freddy , seeing this all in his head, is now telling the guys what the sheriff is saying.

"So my gun's drawn, right? I got it aimed right at him. I tell 'im 'Freeze, don't fucking move' And the little idiot's looking at me, nodding his head 'yes' saying 'I know…….I know…… I know'. Meanwhile, his right hand is creeping towards his glove box. So I scream at him, 'Asshole, you better fucking freeze right now!' And he's still looking at me, saying 'I know……I know…..I know'. And his right hand is STILL going for the glove box" The sheriff in Freddy's head was telling all his buddies.

The imaginary Freddy has now unfrozen and walked over to the urinal, pretending to take a piss. The sheriff continues his story.

"I tell him 'Buddy, I'm gonna shoot you in the face right now if you don't put your hands on the fuckin' dash.' And the guy's girlfriend, this really sexy Oriental bitch, starts screaming at him "Chuck! Chuck! What are you doing? Put your hands on the dash like the officer said' And then like nothing, the guy snaps out of it and casually puts his hands on the dash" He said and his buddies chuckled.

Imaginary Freddy finishes taking his fake piss and as casually as he can, walks passed the sheriff's to one of the sinks. One of the sheriffs watches him, not really paying attention, still listening to the story.

"What was he goin' for?" Another of the guys asks the one telling the story.

"His registration. Stupid citizen, doesn't have the slightest idea how close he came to getting' shot" The first one replied and all of them laughed.

Freddy washes his hands and when he's finished, looks around for towels. But there are only drying machines so he heads over to one of them and presses the button. He is still nervous that these guys are gonna figure him out and it seems like the hand dryer is the loudest thing he's ever heard. Drowning out all other sound, the dryer roars as imaginary Freddy rubs his hands beneath it. Finally his hands are dry and he walks out of the bathroom without a second glance.

Finished with his story Freddy came back to present time to see Joe smiling at him, nodding approval.

"That's how you do it, kid. You knew how to handle that situation. You shit your pants, and then you dive in and swim" Freddy found himself laughing along with the rest.


	4. The Dream

Two days after meeting Joe, Eddie and Mr. White at Smokey Pete's, Freddy awoke with a start. Covered in sweat, he sat bolt upright in bed and looked around him in confusion. But seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he lay back down and tried to relax again.

Wow, that must have been some nightmare, he thought. Putting his hands behind his head, he stared at the ceiling, trying to remember what the dream had been about. But like most dreams this one was fading as quickly as Freddy was becoming fully awake. He just knew that he'd been scared and that there'd been a lot of blood. Strange, he thought.

Finally deciding that he might as well get up, he swung his legs out of bed. He noticed that he was still sweating and wondered if the nightmare had really been that bad. But then he realized just how hot it was and dismissed that thought. Late August in LA with no air conditioning would make anyone sweat. Living near the beach for so long had made it harder to adjust to the heat in the valley this summer. He was really looking forward to fall and winter. LA may not have much of a winter but at least it would be cooler than this, he thought.

Yawning and stretching Freddy headed into the bathroom and started running a shower. He was still feeling a little odd from the dream so took an extra long one, letting the hot water relax him. Finally feeling somewhat normal, he stepped out and got ready for his big day.

For this was the day that Freddy was going to meet the rest of the crew and go over the heist. Joe was having them all meet at the warehouse that would also serve as a rendezvous when it was all over. Nice Guy Eddie was supposed to pick Freddy up at around 1:00. Not wanting to risk being out if Eddie called to change the time, Freddy decided to simply stay in his apartment until then.

He went to the kitchen and got out some cereal, smiling slightly as he brought out the box. Man, Jen would never have let me get away with eating this crap, he thought as he poured out some Captain Crunch.

Freddy was still getting used to being divorced. It had been a couple months but every once in a while it would hit him how different his life was now. He and Jen had gotten married so young. He had just finished the Police Academy and she'd just finished college. Some of his friends on the force had tried to warn him that maybe they should wait after he'd been on the force a while before getting married. But they'd both been so sure that it was going to last forever and neither heeded the warnings of friends and family.

Now here he was, less than a year from his 30th birthday and already divorced. Man, that's not how it was supposed to go down, he thought. As he sat at his dining table eating his cereal he looked around his paltry apartment. Jen had gotten the nice apartment (they hadn't been able to afford a house) near the Westside and Freddy had decided to move closer to the precinct. Living in The Valley was different but at least he could get to the station in less than 20 minutes. Something he'd never been able to do before.

Not that he really needed to go there that often these days. Once Holdoway had decided Freddy was ready for undercover work, he pretty much had stopped going in to the station. He and Holdoway worked alone most of the time so they often went to various places to meet up and work on Freddy's undercover skills. Then, once he'd been assigned to Joe Cabot's case, he'd spent a lot of time at home waiting for phone calls. First he'd waited to talk to Long Beach Mike and once they had their stories straight, Nice Guy Eddie.

He was beginning to feel a little stir crazy after so many weeks of solitude and was actually looking forward to getting out that day. Maybe I should really clean this place up with all the extra time I have, he thought. But quickly changed his mind as he hated cleaning and didn't think it would help make the time go any faster. He tried not to let himself get nervous as he thought about the afternoon's meeting. Deciding that he didn't like the silence now filling the room, Freddy turned on the radio. Then he took out the sports section from the paper and settled down to read it on the couch.

He managed to make the whole paper last for a couple hours, including a rare go at the crossword puzzle. Finally at almost exactly 1:00, Freddy's phone rang. Picking it up, Freddy walked over to his window, looking outside. Sure enough, he saw a car parked across the street with what appeared to be three people inside.

"Yeah" Freddy answered the phone, still watching the car.

"Hey, it's show time. Grab your jacket, we're parked outside" Eddie said.

"I'll be right down" Freddy replied.

"He'll be right down" Eddie said to the two other men in the car with him.

Freddy meanwhile had put on a black leather jacket and was quickly gathering up the things he needed. He turned off the radio, only then realizing that it had been on a country station the whole time. Freddy didn't like country so that station must have been set by Jen a long time ago. He thought it odd that hadn't noticed that he'd pushed the wrong pre-set button. But then again, his mind had certainly been on other things.

Going to the dining table, Freddy picked up two guns. Checking to make sure that the first was loaded and the safety was on, he put it into an ankle holster. Doing the same with the second gun he put it into his jacket pocket. He then grabbed his keys and headed to the door.

Suddenly he stopped. He felt like he was missing something and for a moment, couldn't figure out what it was. Then recognition dawned on him and he headed back to the table and picked up a small bowl filled with coins. He dumped it out onto the table and began searching through the coins, finally finding what he was looking for. Picking up his wedding ring he quickly put it on his left hand. Freddy still felt strange going out without his ring. It wasn't really that he wanted people to think he was still married, it was just that he'd never gone out onto an assignment without it. This was his first undercover assignment but he'd gone out on plenty of calls before that could have been dangerous and never once been hurt. Somehow he felt that not having his ring on would break a pattern of good luck and he didn't want to do that. The comfort of the ring on his finger made him feel better and he headed for the door again.

Then he stopped again. Suddenly Freddy felt the same fear and dread that he awoke with that morning. This is stupid, he thought to himself. It was only a dream and I don't even remember it, why should it bother me? Catching a glance of his reflection in the mirror by the door, Freddy stepped closer to it.

"Don't pussy out on me now" he told his reflection, who's eyes showed the fear he felt. "They don't know. They don't know shit. You're NOT gonna get hurt. You're fucking Baretta and they believe every fucking word, cuz you're super-cool"

The little self pep-talk seemed to work and Freddy felt his confidence come back. Looking in the mirror again he saw no more fear behind his eyes and knew that the guys he was about to meet wouldn't either. With that final thought, he opened his door and walked out.


	5. Meeting the Gang

_Hello all! Sorry for the delay! Writing was definitely put on a back burner for me for quite a while but suddenly I've had lots of inspiration and been writing more recently. So here are a couple more chapters and I may have a few more done soon. I'm not positive now how far I will take this fic but I'm going to just roll with it and see where it takes us. Thanks to all who have read and reviewed! You support helps a lot! -Moki_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once outside his building, Freddy took note of the car that would be following him on this meeting. Careful not to show any outward signs of recognition, he quickly crossed the street and opened the back door to Eddie's car. Holdoway had told him he was going to be followed and he knew that they'd recognize him as soon as he walked out of his door. No signal was needed and as soon as Eddie pulled away, the backup followed.

"Okay boys, this is Mr Orange." Eddie said to everyone in the car as soon as Freddy got in. Freddy nodded a greeting to the car at large and Eddie drove off.

Freddy recognized the man in the front seat with Eddie as the same "Mr. White" he'd met the other night at the bar with Joe. The other man sitting in the backseat with him was unfamiliar but nodded back briefly at Freddy and seemed friendly enough.

Apparently Freddy had arrived in the middle of something. For as soon as they were on their way, the man next to him spoke to Mr. White as if continuing a conversation.

"Hey, I know what I'm talking about, black women ain't the same as white women" he said.

"There's a slight difference" White replied sarcastically

"Very funny. You know what I mean. What a white bitch will put up with, a black bitch won't put up with for a minute, man. They got a line, and if you cross it, they fuck you up" The guy in back said.

"I gotta go along with Pink on that one. I've seen it happen" Eddie said in agreement from the frontseat.

Pink? Freddy thought to himself. Then it occurred to him that if he was "Orange" and there was a "White" and now a "Pink" then Joe must have given them all colors as code names. Nice trick, he admitted.

"Okay, Mr. Expert. If this is such a truism, how come every nigger I know treats his woman like a piece of shit?" White asked Pink.

"I'll make you a bet that those same damn niggers who were showin' their ass in public, when their bitches get'em home man, they chill the fuck out" Pink replied authoritatively.

"Not these guys" White replied with confidence.

"Yeah, those guys too" Pink answered.

"Let me tell you guys a story. In one of Daddy's clubs there was this black cocktail waitress named Elois" Eddie said from the driver's seat and the other two shut up.

"Elois?" Mr. White asked, amused.

"Yeah, Elois. E and Lois. We called her Lady E" Eddie replied.

"Where was she from, Compton?" Mr. White asked and seeming to find this extremely funny, started cracking up.

"No she was from Ladora Heights" Eddie replied, not really understanding why White was cracking up.

"Oh Ladora Heights. That's the black Beverly Hills" Pink said from the backseat, laughing now himself.

Freddy had sat quietly throughout the entire conversation. At first he'd felt a little nervous around these guys and wasn't sure how to behave. But the more he observed them the more comfortable he became. These guys were just shootin' the shit like guys do and it put Freddy at ease. Everyone in the car was laughing at this point and Freddy found that he was smiling along with the rest.

"No, it's not the black Beverly Hills, it's the black Palos Verdes" Eddie replied to Pink, sending White went into hysterics again for no apparent reason.

"Anyway" Eddie continued "Lady E, I mean she was a man eater-upper. Un-fuckin'-believable. Every guy that ever, EVER laid his eyes on her had to jack off to her at least once" He said and everyone laughed again.

"You know who she looked like?" he asked. "She looked like Christie Love. Remember that TV show _Get Christie Love?_ She was a black female cop"

Freddy found himself looking up suddenly at the word "cop" and gave s slight smile that went unnoticed by the rest of the guys.

"Yeah, yeah" Pink chimed in.

She always used to say…" Eddie continued.

"You're under arrest sugar!" Pink finished with Eddie, obviously having seen the show.

"What was the name of the chick that played Christie Love" Pink asked.

"Pam Grier" Eddie replied.

Finally having something to contribute, Freddy spoke up from the backseat.

"No, it wasn't Pam Grier, Pam Grier was the other one. Pam Grier did the film. _Christie Love_ was like a Pam Grier TV show, without Pam Grier" he replied.

"So who was Christie Love?" Pink asked Freddy

"How the fuck should I know?" Freddy replied, shrugging.

"Great, now I'm totally fucking tortured" Pink said, exasperated.

"Whoever it was, it doesn't matter. She looked exactly like Elois" Eddie interjected from the front seat, obviously tired of having his story cut off.

As Freddy thought about it more he realized he might know the actress's name.

"Anne Francis" he said in response to Pink's question finally.

"No" White said "That was Honey West"

"Anne Francis is _white_" Pink told Freddy with an amused look.

"Shut up, alright! I'm tryin' to tell a story here, she looked _exactly _like Elois" Eddie said, jumping back into the conversation. He sounded so much like a scolding father that Freddy couldn't help but to laugh. Looking over he saw Pink cracking up as well and the two of them just looked at each other, busting up like little boys in the backseat.

"Anyway" Eddie continued. "I come into the club one night and there's Carlos. The bartender, he's a wetback, he's a friend of mine" Eddie said and again everyone lost it. Calling a "friend" a racial slur like "wetback" seemed funny to everyone, including Eddie, who chuckled along with the rest.

"And I says to him" Eddie again tried to continue his story "Carlos, where's Lady E tonight? Now apparently Lady E was married to a real piece of dog shit. I mean, a real fuckin' animal. He used to do things to her…."

"Do things? Do things like what? What would he do? Did he beat her up or something?" Freddy asked curiously.

"I don't know what he did. He just did things, alright?" Eddie said, annoyed.

"Alright" Freddy answered quietly. He was beginning think he should have kept his mouth shut.

"So anyway one night she plays it real cool. She waits for this bag of shit to get drunk. He falls asleep on the fucking couch, she sneaks up on him, she puts some Wacko Glue on his dick and glues his dick to his belly" Eddie said laughing.

Everyone in the car groaned at that thought and all responded to Eddie's claims.

"No, man!" Pink said, amazed.

"Oh, Jesus Christ" White said in disgust.

"You can do some crazy stuff with it" Freddy said, admirably.

"I'm serious, I'm serious man. They had to call the paramedics to cut the prick loose. Literally" Eddie continued, really enjoying the reaction he was getting from the rest of the guys.

"Was he all pissed off?" White asked and then cracked up at the unintentional joke he'd made.

"Well how would you feel if every time you had to take a piss you had to do a fucking hand stand?" Eddie asked and the entire car lost it. Everyone laughed so hard they thought their sides were going to bust. For the rest of the ride they then exchanged stories about the most outrageous things they'd heard done to other guys' junk.

"….so then the drunk asshole drops the lighter right in his crotch" Pink was saying as Eddie pulled into the parking lot of a small warehouse. Everyone groaned and continued to laugh as they all piled out of the car.

As Freddy got out he looked around briefly before following the others inside. He noted that there were three other cars in the lot already so it looked like they were the last to arrive. He saw no sign of the cops following him but he really didn't expect nor want to see them either. They knew better than that. Once inside the warehouse he saw Joe standing in front of a chalkboard with some outlines already done of the store where the job was to be done and the streets around it. Chairs were set out in front of the board and with Joe standing in front of it, looked like an old fashioned schoolroom.

Three of the chairs were already filled, two in the front row and one in the back. In the front row sat two dark haired men. The first was wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt and what appeared to be a permanent smirk on his face, smiling at the guys walking in late. While both seemed to be tall, the second man was bigger. He looked on seriously as Freddy and his group walked in the door, his eyes never leaving them. The man sitting in the back row was much older than the rest of them and Freddy wondered for a moment what Joe was thinking. He had thought that White would end up being the oldest and therefore more experienced out of the whole crew but seeing this new guy proved that theory incorrect. Freddy then figured that Joe probably had known this guy for a while and was probably putting him on this job because of that. Still, it was odd sitting down next to a man who looked almost old enough to be his grandfather.

Feeling like they were late to class, Freddy and his group quickly took seats in front of Joe. They all had been giggling a little still over Pink's story but the look on Joe's face shut them all up. Freddy and Mr. Pink took the two empty chairs in the back while Eddie and White took seats in the front row.

Joe waited for them all to settle before speaking.

"So you guys like to tell jokes and kid around, huh? Joe said without introduction. "Giggling like a bunch of young broads in a schoolyard"

"Well let me tell a joke" Joe continued "Five guys sittin' in a bullpen in San Quentin. Wondering how the fuck they got there. What'd we do wrong? What should we have done? What didn't we do? It's your fault, my fault, his fault. All that bullshit. Finally someone comes up with the idea: 'wait a minute, while we were planning this caper all we did was sit around and tell fucking jokes'. Got the message? Joe asked the group at large. Not really expecting an answer, he continued.

"Fellas I don't mean to holler at ya" he continued in a quieter tone. "Now, when this caper's over, and I'm sure it's gonna be a successful one, hell we'll go down to the Hawaiian Islands and I'll roar and laugh at all of you. You'll find me a different character down there. Right now it's a matter of business" he said seriously.

"With the exception of Eddie and myself, who you already know, we're going to be using aliases in this job. Under no circumstances do I want ANY one of ya to refer to each other by your Christian name. And I don't want any talk about yourself personally. That includes where you've been, your wife's name, where you might have done time, or a bank maybe you robbed in St Petersburg" he said, looking at each of them in turn to be sure they were getting the message.

"All I want you guys to talk about if you have to, is what you're gonna do. That should do it" he finished.

"Here are your names" And pointing at each in turn he called them out.

"Mr. Brown" he pointed at the smirking man in the Hawaiian shirt.

"Mr. White" he pointed at the man Freddy already knew as Mr. White.

"Mr. Blonde" he pointed at the big, serious guy.

"Mr. Blue" he pointed at the older man seated to Freddy's left.

"Mr. Orange" he pointed at Freddy.

"And Mr. Pink" he pointed finally at the man Freddy already knew as Pink.

"Why am I Mr. Pink?" Mr. Pink asked the question he'd obviously wanted an answer to for a while.

"Because you're a faggot, alright?" Joe responded and all the guys laughed.

"Why can't we pick our own colors?" Mr. Pink asked, not wanting to drop the subject just yet. Freddy wished he would shut the hell up but he couldn't really blame the guy. He'd thought that "Orange" was a stupid name but now he was really grateful it hadn't been worse.

"No way, no way" Joe said annoyed. "Tried it once and it doesn't work. You get four guys all fighting over who's gonna be Mr. Black and they don't know each other so nobody wants to back down" shaking his head he continued.

"No way, I pick" Joe said pointing to himself forcefully. "You're Mr. Pink. Be thankful you're not Mr. Yellow" he added.

"Yeah but Mr. Brown, that's too close to Mr. Shit" Mr. Brown protested from the front row.

"Mr. Pink sounds like Mr. Pussy" Pink responded. "How about if I'm Mr. Purple? Yeah that sounds good to me, I'll be Mr. Purple" Pink said as if that would end it.

Freddy could see that Joe was starting to get a little fed up with this game.

"You're not Mr. Purple" he said to Pink. "Some guy on some other job is Mr. Purple. You're Mr. PINK!" he repeated, angrily.

"Who cares what your name is?" White asked Mr. Pink over his shoulder, trying to shut him up.

"Yeah that's easy for you to say, you're Mr. White you have a cool sounding name" Pink replied. "Alright if it's no big deal to be Mr. Pink you wanna trade?" he asked White.

"Hey" Joe said, really getting pissed now "Nobody's trading with anybody. This ain't a goddamn fucking city council meeting you know"

"Now listen up, Mr. Pink" he continued. "There's two ways you can go on this job. My way or the highway"

"Now what's it gonna be Mr. Pink?" he asked, staring at Pink angrily.

Realizing that his battle was lost and probably thinking he should let it go, Pink finally conceded.

"Jesus Christ Joe, fuckin' forget about it. It's beneath me, you know? I'm Mr. Pink. Let's move on" he said shrugging.

"I'll move on when I feel like it. You all got the goddamn message?" he said to everyone, looking at them all again.

"I'm so goddamn mad hollering at you guys I can hardly talk. Let's go to work" and with that he turned to the blackboard and started going over the plans for the heist.

Joe gave them descriptions of the store and the employees that would be working that day, including the manager. He went through the time frame of how long they would be in and out and how soon he expected them back at the rendezvous. He then assigned each of them to a particular job on the heist and instructed them that no one was to change positions under any circumstances. He'd chosen who was going to do what very carefully and didn't want his planned messed with at all.

Freddy wasn't surprised when he was given duty to guard the door. It was definitely a "newbie" position but still an important one. He knew that probably the rest of the guys figured that this must be his first big job because of it but he didn't really care. After all it was his first "big job". They didn't need to know anything more than that.

After about an hour of going over the plan and answering the questions that came up, Joe let them go. Eddie immediately went to speak to his father and the guys broke up into groups, talking for a little while before leaving.

Freddy decided to take advantage of the extra time and went to the blackboard to study it a little more. This sort of thing wasn't foreign to him. He'd been a part of a few operations on the force that had required similar preparation. Still though he wanted to make sure that he got all the information right so took out a small notepad and pen and started making notes. He was just writing down the name of the streets around the store when he heard a voice suddenly behind him.

"You know if Joe catches you doing that, he'll probably shoot you"

Freddy was caught completely off guard and gave such a start that he dropped both pen and notebook. The voice broke up in laughter and as Freddy retrieved the fallen book, he looked up to find Mr. White standing over him. Still laughing, Mr. White bent down and picked up Freddy's pen, handing it to him.

"Sorry kid. I didn't mean to scare you like that" he said, smiling kindly.

"No problem, guess I'm a little too jumpy, huh?" Freddy responded, chuckling at himself.

"It's just that Joe doesn't like anyone to write anything down about his jobs. So if you wanna remember something you're just gonna have to keep it up here" White said, tapping his own head with a forefinger meaningfully. Then seeing Freddy's dismay, he continued.

"Listen kid if you want I can help you go over it. Once you go over it a couple times you'll remember everything really easily" he said and Freddy was struck by how similar he sounded to Holdoway, giving advice on memorizing that damn story.

"Uh, yeah that would be great, thanks" Freddy said uncertainly. He hadn't expected anyone to help him out on this so he was taken a little off guard.

"Tell you what, how 'bout I pick you up at your place tomorrow at around 12:00 and we'll do a little recon to check the place out, okay?" White asked.

"Yeah sure, 12:00 works for me" Freddy said, still surprised.

"Alright guys, everyone who came in my car, let's go" Eddie said suddenly from the door. Pink had been talking to Brown in the back and now headed for the door along with Freddy and White.


	6. Mr White

_Here's the second of the two new chapters I have ready to go. I will try to have more soon!I do have a lot of stuff written but it needs tweaking so I'll pop it up as soon as it's ready. Enjoy! -Moki_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning Freddy again woke up with the same feeling of dread as he did on the previous day. This time he decided that he would ignore it. His experience with the guys yesterday had made him feel pretty good about the whole operation. Foreboding dreams were not going to stop him from doing his job. Maybe everyone who went undercover felt like that the first few times, it certainly wasn't anything to worry about.

After a quick shower Freddy cleaned up his apartment. He decided not to do too much though as he figured a "too clean" feeling might alert White that something strange was up. Though no one thought this was his real apartment. He'd told Joe (with backup from Longbeach Mike) that his current place was temporary and that he'd be leaving town for a while as soon as the job was over. It was the only reason Joe would have allowed Eddie to pick him up with other guys from the job in the car. Otherwise what use would it be to have code names and then know where one of the guys lived? Freddy knew that he might still have to move even after the job was done. Joe might end up in jail but he could still send someone after Freddy. But it didn't matter to him, he wasn't attached to the place anyway.

Freddy mostly just got rid of the worst of the mess and concentrated on removing any items that would reveal his identity. He of course had two reasons for this, Joe's rule about not knowing anyone's real names and his own safety in not revealing he was a cop. He'd never realized just how many items in his place could identify him until he started to remove them. Freddy had to put away a stack of bills on the kitchen counter, a couple of plaques he'd received for service done in the line of duty, even his high school track trophies had to come down. Finally after a good half-hour of scouring the place he was convinced that it was all clear. That is as long as White didn't feel the need to go into his closet, Freddy thought to himself with a smile as he dumped one final load of junk on the closet floor.

A few minutes after 12:00 Freddy heard a knock at the door. He opened it to find White standing there, smoking a cigarette in a checkered shirt.

"Heya kid" White said in greeting

"Hey" Freddy responded, stupidly. "You wanna come in for coffee or just go straight out?" he asked, trying to be polite. How did one act when dealing with a professional criminal?

"Nah, I just had coffee. Let's go" White said and Freddy immediately went for his jacket. Anticipating that White might want to leave right away he had already put one of his guns in a pocket. The other was in his ankle holster, as always. He really didn't think that White expected him to go out unarmed, in fact he was sure that White himself was probably packing. But Freddy didn't think it was a good idea to be too obvious either. So he kept the guns hidden for now.

After Freddy got his jacket, White stepped out of the doorway and Freddy followed him downstairs. White started the car and they drove off without a word. After a few minutes the silence became unbearable to Freddy and he finally had to say something.

"This "no name" stuff is unusual but I guess it's a good idea. Have you ever had to do this before?" he finally asked.

"Nope, never done it before. I think Joe just came up with the idea but yeah, I guess it's pretty smart of him" White replied.

"Well I thought "Orange" was pretty silly until I heard "Pink". I'm sure glad I didn't get stuck with that one" Freddy said and White laughed.

"Yeah, no kidding. I mean it doesn't really matter to me but of course I would prefer not to be stuck with that one" he said, chuckling.

Soon after they arrived in front of the jewelry store. White pulled the car across the street and parked it there, turning off the ignition.

"Okay kid so here's the deal. We're gonna go over all the info that Joe gave us yesterday about who's doin' what. I want you to be able to give me all the info back, without hesitation. Alright?" White said, turning to Freddy in the passenger seat.

"Okay" Freddy said.

White then began grilling Freddy on every detail about the heist. He asked things like the exact address of the jewelry store, the time they were to get there, how long they were going to be inside, the jobs of each of the members of the crew and even had him give directions back to the rendezvous.

"Why do I need to be able to give that to you? Brown is gonna be driving" Freddy said after they'd run through it a few times. He was still missing one turn on the directions back to the rendezvous and it was pissing him off every time he did it.

"Listen to me, Orange" White said, seriously. "Just because another guy is doing something doesn't mean you shouldn't know how to do it yourself. A lot of shit can go down on a job like this and sometimes you'll have to take up the slack. What if Brown gets caught or killed and we need you to drive, huh?" he asked.

Freddy hadn't looked at it that way before. But now that White mentioned that possibility, it made sense to him.

"Okay, yeah I see your point" Freddy replied, consoled. "So you go left down this street, take a right at the next light….." He began his directions again and this time was happy when he got every turn right.

White was pleased that his pupil was picking up on his instructions so quickly. He'd had a feeling the moment he'd seen this kid that he had good potential and he was happy to see his instincts were right on the money. White had noticed how he'd sat quietly while Joe had been giving instructions and never mouthed-off like Brown and Pink. That had been a good sign to White and he'd immediately taken an interest in him. Some guys hated working with rookies. They hated having to teach someone new and put up with the attitude, etc. White had to admit that he himself usually felt that way too. There was just something different about this rookie, he thought to himself.

Orange asked a lot of questions but they were the _right_ kinds of questions, White thought. He asked the sort of questions that showed he understood things and was really trying to learn. He wasn't being snotty like some young twerps, White thought. No, this guy was just being thorough and making sure he got why things were being done the way they were.

This kid is gonna catch on quick, White though to himself.

"Okay let's run through it. Where are you?" White said after they'd taken a break to have a smoke.

"I stand outside the door. I don't let anybody in or out" Freddy replied immediately.

"Mr. Brown?" White asked.

"Mr. Brown stays in the car. He's parked across the street till I give him the signal, then he pulls up in front of the store" Freddy replied.

"Mr. Blonde and Mr. Blue?" White asked

"Crowd control. They handle customers and employees" Freddy replied.

Spotting a gorgeous blond walking across the street in front of the car, White decided to have a little fun with Orange.

"That girl's ass?" he asked with a smile.

Without skipping a beat Freddy replied "Sitting right here on my dick" and White laughed, thoroughly enjoying himself now.

"Myself and Mr. Pink?" he asked, still chuckling over Freddy's quick wit.

"You two take the manager in the back of the store and make him give you the diamonds. We're there for those stones period. Since no display cases are being fucked with, no alarms should go off. We're out of there in two minutes, not one second longer" Freddy replied in a well-rehearsed tone. Suddenly a question occurred to Freddy and he decided this was as good a time as any, to ask.

"What if the manager won't give you the diamonds?" Freddy asked. He wanted to know what a criminal like White would do in such a situation. He knew that most of these professional thieves weren't into hurting people if they could help it. But then again you never knew who you were dealing with until it went down.

Taking a drag on his cigarette before replying, White continued looking out of the window as he thought about his answer.

"When you're dealing with a store like this, they're insured up the ass. They're not supposed to give you any resistance whatsoever" he replied.

Freddy thought that was true enough. Having responded to plenty of robberies when in uniform he knew how it worked. Consoling many a shaky victim he'd always told them that they'd done exactly the right thing by not resisting. He reassured them by saying that nothing, not a crappy convenience store nor even a diamond store, was worth risking your life for.

"If you get a customer or an employee, who thinks he's Charles Bronson, take the butt of your gun and smash their nose in" White continued. "Everyone jumps, he falls down screaming, blood squirts out of his nose. Freaks everyone out. Nobody says fucking shit after that"

Now we're getting the real story, Freddy thought.

"You might get some bitch talk shit to you" he continued "But give her a look like you're gonna smash her in the face next. Watch her shut the fuck up"

Freddy giggled despite himself. White's personality so far did not go with the intensity he was now showing and Freddy wondered if he was kidding around a little bit.

"Now if it's a manager, that's a different story" White went on, evidently determined to teach his pupil everything he might need to know. "The mangers know better than to fuck around. So if you get one who's givin' you static, he probably thinks he's a real cowboy. You gotta break that son-of-a-bitch in two. If you wanna know something he won't tell ya, cut off one of his fingers. The little one. Then tell him his thumb is next. After that hell tell ya if he wears ladies underwear"

Freddy looked at White, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. He certainly seemed serious, Freddy thought.

Finished with his instruction, White put out his cigarette and turned on the ignition.

"I'm hungry. Let's go get a taco" he said without another word and Freddy laughed.


End file.
